Well drilling structure provided with a drill pipe hoist



Nov. 28, 1950 H. J. WOOLSLAYER ETAL 2,531,930

WELL DRILLING STRUCTURE PROVIDED WITH A DRILL PIPE HOIST Filed Dec. 2,1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q L ZQW v WWW 6801mm, S

H. J. WOOLSLAYER ETAL WELL DRILLING STRUCTURE PROVIDED WITH A DRILL PIPEHOIST v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m m w 2 c r I m w w n N F Patented Nov. 28,1950 WELL DRILLING STRUCTURE PROVIDED WITH A DRILL PIPE HOIS'I Homer J.Woolslayer and Cecil Jenkins, Tulsa,

Okla., assignors to Lee C. Moore Corporation Pittsburgh, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Application December 2, 1947, Serial No.789,254

5 Claims.

1 This invention relates to oil well drilling derricks or masts, andmore particularly to a mast supporting a pipe racking platform forreceiving the upper portions of stands of drill pipe.

In drilling deep wells it is the.usual practice, when pulling drill pipeout of the hole to change bits or to take cores, to stand the pipeseveral sections high in the derrick or mast and to move the stands ofpipe laterally into a racking platform attached to a side of the mast.Since one hundred or more stands of pipe may be involved, it is commonpractice to mount a horizontal rake or series of fingers in the rackingplatform to receive the stands and hold them in predetermined positions.In racking pipe a stand of drill pipe, consisting of two or more joints,is drawn out of the hole by elevators connected to the traveling blockand then is held while the joint is broken at the derrick floor level.The stand is then set down on the derrick floor and leaned against astabbing finger at the level of the racking platform while the elevatorsare disconnected from the pipe. A man on the racking platform thenmanipulates the stand into its proper place between the fingers of therake. When the mast has one face open, the racking platform is attachedto the outside of the mast, and the stands of pipe are moved out throughthe open face and into the rack. As this manual operation is very heavywork, the speed of operation of the entire crew will be limited whereheavier strings of pipe are involved.

It is an object of this invention to provide a well drilling structurein which stands of drill pipe can be quickly racked with little manualefiort when the racking platform is inside or outside ofthe mast. Otherobjects are to provide for that purpose hoisting mechanism supported bythe mast which is movable laterally toward and-away from a side of themast, which is movable laterally by gravity in one direction, and whichcan be swung around an upright axis.

In accordance with this invention a skeleton mast supports a piperacking platform frame projecting from a face of the mast. A hoist beamis fastened to the mast above the platform frame. Hoisting mechanism issuspended above the frame from the beam, and elevators supported by thatmechanism are adapted to be connected to a stand of drill pipe in themast. Consequently, the stand can be lifted by the hoisting mechanismand swung into the platform frame where it can beracked. Preferably, thehoisting mechanism is carried by a trolley that travels along the hoistbeam. and the beam is pivoted to the mast on an upright axis so that itcan be swung laterally into different positions. It also is desirable tobe able to tilt the beam lengthwise so that the trolley will gravitatetoward one end of the beam. When the mast has an open side and theplatform frame is located outside the mast, the frame has an open innerside to permit the stands of drill pipe to be moved laterally into itfrom inside the mast.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side view of our drillingstructure; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side view, partly brokenaway, of the upper end of the structure; Fig. 3 is a view from the outerend of the hoist beam with the trolley removed; and Fig. 4 is ahorizontal section taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the bottom of an oil well drillingmast l is mounted on a base 2 that preferably is portable. The mast canbe made in any convenient manner, but most suitably is formed from twostructural sections detachably connected together. One of these sectionsis relatively short and includes the lower portions 3 of the two rearlegs of the mast supported by inclined braces 4 connected to the base.The other tall section of the mast consists of the remaining portion ofit and includes the front legs 6, which are mounted on the base, and theupper portions 1 of the rear legs. The lower ends of legs 6 and! arerigidly connected by inclined braces 8. The adjoined ends of the rearlegs 3 and l are detachably connected together in any suitable manner.The lower ends of the front legs are detachably connected to the base byhinge brackets 9 to permit the tall section of the mast to be swung in avertical plane when the two sections are not connected together, wherebythe tall section can be lowered to the ground and disconnected from thebase.

The drawworks II, shown diagrammatically, is mounted on base 2, and acable 12 extends from the drawworks up over the crown block I3 and downinto the mast where it supports a traveling block I4 carrying elevatorsl5 for pulling the drill pipe out of the well.

As the space inside such a mast is quite limited, the pipe rackingplatform that is provided is outside of they mast. Also, the face of themast most of the way up the side bounded by front legs 6 is open, asshown in Fig. 4. The racking platform includes a horizontal frame I!having an open irmer side beside the open face of the mast and havingthe inner ends of its side memwhen the mast is erect. Inside the frameis a series of spaced parallel tlngers 2i forming a rake in which stands22 of drill pipe are placed after having been pulled from the well.Extending part way across the open inner side of the frame is a floormember 23 from which projects a stabbing finger 2| that a stand of pipeleans against between the time elevators it are removed from it and thetime that it is moved into the rake.

It is a feature of this invention that the mast supports an outsidehoist for transferring stands of pipe from the stabbing finger to theirproper locations in the rake carried by the racking platform.Accordingly, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, an I-beam 26 is disposed abovethe racking platform with its inner end welded to the lower end of aheavy sleeve 21. Mounted in the opposite ends of this sleeve arebearings 28 which are carried by a post 29 extending through the sleeveand projecting from its opposite ends. The upper end of this postextends through an oversized hole in a bracket 3| attached to one of thecross members 32 at the top of the mast. This bracket is directly abovethe upper end of one of the front legs 2. The lower end of the postlikewise extends through an oversized hole in a bracket 23 that supportsthe lower end of the pipe. Threaded on the opposite ends of the post arenuts 24.

The lower bracket is connected to the adjoining leg of the mast througha vertically adjusted wedge. Thus, an upwardly tapered wedge 36 has oneside engaging the inner face of the lower bracket and its opposite sideengaging one side of a downwardly tapered wedge 21 welded to the mastleg. A bolt 38 extends through the lower bracket and a vertical slot inwedge 36 for normally bolting the bracket tight to the leg. However,when the bolt is loosened, the outer wedge can be raised or lowered byadjusting a nut 38 lower flanges of I-beam 26. Suspended from the bottomof the trolley is a fluid pressure cylinder 46, preferably pneumaticallyoperated. The piston in this cylinder is mounted on a rod 41 thatprojects from the bottom of the cylinder and supports a hoisting line,such as a chain or cable 48. The lower end of the line supportselevators l! of conventional construction for gripping drill pipe belowits enlarged upper end. Air under pressure is supplied to the cylinderfrom a suitable source through hoses Si by a valve 52 that preferably isoperated through pendant controls 53 by the man on the racking platform.

In using this hoist, a stand 22 of drill pipe,

- which has beenpulled from the hole by the traveling block I4 anddisconnected from the string of pipe in the well. is leaned against thestabbing finger 24 as before and the elevators are disconnected from it.The hoist elevators 49 then are attached to the upper end of the standso that the hoist will lift it when fluid pressure is admitted to thelower end of cylinder I. By swinging the hoist beam 26 and by moving thetrolley along the beam, the stand of pipe can be carried quickly to anydesired place in the racking platform and then lowered by the hoistuntil the stand again rests on the base 2. To put the pipe back into thehole, the procedure just outlined is reversed. The trolley can be causedto travel by gravity toward the inner or the outer end of the beam bytilting the beam through the vertical adjustment of wedge 22. Thus.while pipe is being racked in the platform the trolley can be caused togravitate toward the outer end of the beam, and while the pipe is beingput back in the hole the adjustment of the wedge can be changed so thatthe trolley will roll towards the inner end of the beam. This furtherdiminishes the work required of the man who racks the pipe.

If desired, two hoists can be provided, one on each front leg of themast. In such a case one hoist would be designed to handle the heavystands of drill collars and the other for handling the lighter stands ofdrill pipe. This would result in shorter hoist beams in some cases aseach one would have to cover only part of the platform area.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explainedthe principle and construction of our invention and have illustrated anddescribed what we now consider to represent its best embodiment.However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of theappended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than asspecifically illustrated and described.

We claim:

l. A well drilling structure comprising an oil well derrick, a piperacking platform supported by the derrick and including a rake forreceiving the upper portions of stands of drill pipe movable laterallyinto it from the well, a hoist beam disposed above said platform, apivotal support for one end of the beam connecting it to one leg of thederrick on an upright axis, adjustable means connected to said supportfor tilting it relative to said leg, a trolley movable along said beam,hoisting mechanism supported by the trolley, and elevators supported bysaid mechanism and adapted to be connected to a stand of drill pipe inthe derrick, whereby said stand can be lifted by the hoisting mechanismand swung into said rake.

2. A well drilling structure comprising an oil well derrick, a piperacking platform supported by the derrick and including a rake forreceiving the upper portions of stands of drill pipe movable laterallyinto it from the well, a pair of vertically spaced brackets connected tothe derrick, an upright rotatable member supported between saidbrackets, a hoist beam rigidly connected at its inner end to saidmember, a vertically adjustable wedge for moving one of said bracketstoward and away from the derrick to tilt the hoist beam lengthwise, atrolley movable along said beam, a fluid pressure actuated hoistcylinder supported by the trolley, a hoisting line suspended from saidcylinder. and elevators carried by said line and adapted to be connectedto a stand of drill pipe in the derrick, whereby said stand can belifted by said line and swung into said rake.

3. A well drflling structure comprising a skeleton mast having an openface between two of its 15 legs, a pipe racking platform frameprojecting outward from said open face and having an open inner side topermit the upper portions of stands of drill pipe tc be moved laterallyinto it from inside the mast, a hoist beam projecting outward above theplatform frame from one of said two legs, a pivotal support for theinner end of the beam connecting it to said one leg on an upright axis,means for tilting said support in a vertical plane substantiallyperpendicular .to the plane of said open face of the mast, a trolleymovable along said beam, hoisting mechanism supported by the trolley,and elevators supported by said mechanism and adapted to be connected toa stand of drill pipe in the mast, whereby said stand can be lifted bythe hoisting mechanism and swung out through the open face of the mastinto the platform frame for racking.

4. A well drilling structure comprising a skeleton mast having an openface between two of its legs, a pipe racking platform frame projectingoutward from said open face and having an open inner side to permit theupperportions of stands of drill pipe to be moved laterally into it frominside the mast, a hoist beam projecting outward above the platformframe from one of said two legs, a pivotal support for the ,inner end ofthe beam connecting it to said one leg on an upright axis, a verticallyadjustable wedge between said leg and support for moving one end of thesupport toward and away from the leg to tilt said axis, a trolleymovable along said beam, hoisting mechanism supported by the trolley,and elevators supported by said mechanism-and adapted to be connected toa stand of drill pipe in the mast, whereby said stand can be lifted bythe hoisting mechanism and swung out through the open face of the mastinto the platform frame for racking.

5. A well drilling structure comprising a skeleton mast having an openface between two of its legs. a pipe racking platform frame projectingoutward from said open face and having an open inner side to permit theupper portions of stands of drill pipe to be moved laterally into itfrom inside the mast, a pair of vertically spaced brackets connected tothe mast at one side of said open face, an upright rotatable membersupported between said brackets, a hoist beam rigidly connected at itsinner end to the lower end of said member, an inclined brace connectingthe upper end of said member to the outer end of the beam, a verticallyadjustable wedge for moving the lower bracket toward and away from themast to tilt the hoist beam lengthwise, a trolley movable along saidbeam, a fluid pressure actuated hoist cylinder supported by the trolley,a hoisting line suspended from said cylinder, and elevators carried bysaid line and adapted to be connected to a stand of drill pipe in themast, whereby said stand can be lifted by said line and swung outthrough the open face of the mast into the platform frame for racking.

HOMER J. WOOL-SLAYER. CECIL JENKINS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,634,859 Tibbetts July 5, 19271,924,477 Wuif Aug. 29, 1933 2,096,600 Vandervoort Oct. 19, 19372,226,947 Sheldon Dec, 31, 1940 2,328,925 Scott Sept. 7, 1943 2,412,020Walters Dec. 3, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 50,026 GermanyDec. 16, 1889

